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I am soooo convinced that everytime I go out with teh intention of gettign a sunset or sunrise the conditions go the complete opposite of what I want and to boot, the good stuff happens during the week, hasn't anyone told the weather that the weekends is where its at?

Nonetheless, I did scope out a good little spot overlooking a lake up the coast where the sun should provide a very nice setting, providing it comes to the party of course..

Anyway two images for which I keen to hear some thoughts, particularly the lanscape one, too little sky?missing another element?

Queenslake

African Daisy

I really love the tones in #1. Great smooth water and gradations. You have used that grad masterfully! The textures in the tree trunk add well to the scene.
However I am keen to see any other compos. I reckon that tree trunk may be dominating too much to take away from the soft sunset... I Reckon that tree trunk could be a picture on it's own with much less sky etc...

biggerry wrote:I did scope out a good little spot

Definitely agree!

biggerry wrote:hasn't anyone told the weather that the weekends is where its at?

I have, but my pleas have so far gone un-answered.

Glad you took the macro. Is that handheld?

I would like to see a sligtly wider comp on the first so the tree trunk is not as dominant. Great job on the daisy.

surenj wrote: I reckon that tree trunk may be dominating too much

My thoughts, too.

I'd like to see the deckchairs rearranged for this image, and the tree trunk moved a little towards the rh edge of the frame.

My thoughts exactly

Love the tones in the first one but I agree with the majority here that it's too dominate (the tree) in the frame - atleast this frame. It might work if there was more going on in the background colour / sun / cloud wise, but with the weather the way it is, the tree is just too much.

I think differently to the above posters. I think the tree trunk, which is the subject of the image, should stay where it is. It creates leading lines to the horizon, which by the colour tones looks quite bleak and this matches the aged look of the trunk. I like it.

I am at odds with the first image. Part of me really likes the textures of the wood leading into the rest of the image, but the wood it too dominant, contrasts too much with the background. Maybe play on this contrast, do a full black and white conversion and see what you get.

That Daisy looks great!

Thanks for the critique and suggestion guys, it really helps!

surenj wrote:However I am keen to see any other compos. I reckon that tree trunk may be dominating too much to take away from the soft sunset... I Reckon that tree trunk could be a picture on it's own with much less sky etc...

CraigVTR wrote:so the tree trunk is not as dominant.

gstark wrote:and the tree trunk moved a little towards the rh edge of the frame

Alpha_7 wrote:the tree is just too much

aim54x wrote:but the wood it too dominant,

I tried quite a number of compositions with the log, I was pretty lucky I had good acess on one side of it, however it was until teh last few images that the exposure and lighting came good, I was convinced after awhile taht colour was no where to be seen so I was lookign for the silky sheen on the water and the dramatic sky, more specifically some good movement in the clouds. I will take another look through the set since I do have a number with the log off to the right and off to the left

Killakoala wrote:which by the colour tones looks quite bleak and this matches the aged look of the trunk. I like it

yeah, the petti-coat government had the same thoughts

aim54x wrote:do a full black and white conversion and see what you get.

Cameron I did have a look at this and it was something I had in mind when taking the images, however I think I will have to let the images stew for awhile and I will come back to them in a few eeks with a different take on them.

surenj wrote:Glad you took the macro. Is that handheld?

yeah macro is handheld with off cam flash, crouched amoungst the spiders

These are two other compositions I had where I was happy with the exposure and lighting.

I think you've found a great spot and have many composition options that will provide a variety of stunning shots - full marks for researching in advanced - that way when the sun performs you will make best use of it .
I really like the converging leading lines in the 3rd shot and think that would provide the great sunset shot .
Like the 1st but try cropping to pano style to elongate and remove juts some of the tree but keeping the leading line.
I like the tree it has such character and is a subject in itself can only suggest you take a lot of test shots from different angles and heights even if you get your feet wet and loose the sunset as the central focus point.

Daisy is nice but would have been tempted to remove the stray petal in the centre.

DebT

I like the square cropped image. The clouds work with the log to draw the eye into the centre nicely